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Labour has warned for months of the growing crisis in accident and emergency units across England. Now that the head of the Government's own watchdog has confirmed it, ministers can't continue to ignore it.

It's becoming clearer by the day that emergency care is in crisis, yet the Queen's Speech had nothing to say about the growing pressures on the NHS.

The NHS has been dragged down by a toxic mix of cuts and re-organisation.

David Prior, who was brought in to lead the Care Quality Commission in January after it faced criticism for failing to protect vulnerable patients, said that almost half of hospitals were now providing care which was either poor, or "not terribly" good.

He said the CQC had found 45 hospitals with problems dating back five years, and vowed that from now on regulators will take a "much clearer" approach in advising which hospitals should not be allowed to continue as they are.

We will be outside the system and the politics - we will have a huge role in the reconfiguration debate because we are independent.

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Demand on NHS accident and emergency departments is "out of control", according to the chairman of the CQC. Credit: PA Wire

Demand on NHS accident and emergency departments is "out of control" and "totally unsustainable", the head of the health and social care regulator in England has warned.

David Prior, chairman of the Care Quality Commission (CQC), said there should be widespread closures of hospital beds and investment in community care to tackle the increasing burden on emergency care.

Mr Prior said that far too many patients were arriving at hospital as emergency cases, a crisis which could be averted by earlier intervention through care in the community.